Engel has been researching and teaching about criminal behavior at UC since 2002.

"Part of my research has been racial profiling, violence reduction, best practices in policing," Engel, who also has a Ph.D., said. "I've worked with literally dozens of agencies across the country and around the world on those particular issues."

Engel has stepped into a role created because of what happened when former UC officer Ray Tensing fired a bullet, which killed DuBose on a street away from campus.

"We need to send a very clear message to this community that we are committed for both short-term and long-term change," Engel said. "One of the things that I'll be doing is coordinating a lot of pieces that are happening very quickly here at the university. We want to make sure that we are doing a top-to-bottom review (and) that that review of the University of Cincinnati Police Department is coordinated."

She and a colleague at UC's Institute of Crime Science recently published a report detailing traffic stops made by UC police officers, keeping in mind the university's police force started patrolling streets around its Clifton campus at the end of 2013.

Had UC not suspended its off campus patrols in the wake of Dubose's death, the number of citations issued to white civilians would have been on pace to double this year compared to last.

The number of citations issued to African-American civilians was projected to go up by more than 3 1/2 times.

Arrests made as a result of traffic stops were on pace to show a similar rise, with the number of arrests of African-American civilians expected to jump by 2 1/2 times.

While those may seem shocking to some, Engel says she needs to see if external factors, like off-campus population growth, led to an increase in traffic stops.

"We've had a lot of growth around the university, a lot of new businesses have popped up. And we've become a destination point, not just for the students that are here but others, who are non-students, are coming here to frequent the bars and restaurant and the businesses," Engel said.

Engel added, "We are pulling out the data to take a look and better understand the patterns and practices of the police department and what that's meant for our citizens. But we're also looking at our crime statistics as well. And we're trying to better understand this in context. A lot of times those numbers don't really tell you what's happening and (it's important to put) that in a real context, and we need to do that work. So before I speak directly to what these numbers mean I need to be better informed, and I think our community needs to be better informed. And part of my role will be to make sure that we're transparent moving forward and that we get those answers."

Engel is so new to the job that she doesn't even know the specifics of her salary yet.

That's because she's moved from an academic role to an administrative role, not a typical jump for a professor to make.

Engel told Dykes she interviewed for her research job at UC during the riots, which erupted in Cincinnati in 2001.

She said that experience helped her decide the Queen City was, and is, a place where she can impact change.

“I am fully committed to making any needed changes to our UC Police Department. We will leave no stone unturned and wherever the facts take us, we will make changes as warranted,” Ono said in a news release. “We want to create a university police department that is a model for the nation, and Robin Engel is the best person to lead us forward in this effort.”